Han shot first
firing a shot at Han Solo shortly before Han responds in kind. In the original 1977 version, Han is the only one to shoot.]] "Han shot first" is a phrase used by Star Wars fans to refer to a controversial change made to a scene in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in which Han Solo is confronted by the bounty hunter Greedo at the Mos Eisley Cantina. The initial change was made to the 1997 ''Star Wars'' Trilogy Special Edition re-release. Scene Han owes money to galactic crime lord Jabba the Hutt for dumping some cargo that he was supposed to smuggle for Jabba, and Greedo has come to take Han to Jabba. During the course of the conversation, Han mentions that he has the money, and Greedo offers to accept the money in exchange for letting Han go. Han and Greedo sit opposite each other at a table and hold an ominous conversation while Greedo aims his blaster at Han. During their conversation and unbeknownst to Greedo, Han stealthily readies his own blaster beneath the table. Han says, "Even I get boarded sometimes. Do you think I had a choice?" Greedo answers, "You can tell that to Jabba. He may only take your ship." Han replies, "Over my dead body." Greedo tells Han, "That's the idea. I've been looking forward to this for a long time," and Han replies, "Yes, I'll bet you have." In the original theatrical version of the film, the camera immediately cuts back to Greedo being covered by a cloud of smoke while the sound of a blaster shot is heard. The camera then cuts to the reaction of the bar patrons before returning to the shooting to show Greedo's smoking corpse slumped over the table. The scene was modified for the 1997 re-release with an extra shot inserted before the smoke cloud (composed from the same shot used to show Greedo's death) of Han and Greedo each visibly firing at each other, with Greedo firing earlier by nearly a full second and missing Han at point-blank range (less than two meters away).Howell, Peter, "At last, Han shot first", Toronto Star, May 12, 2006Tocci, Jason, "The Well-Dressed Geek: Media Appropriation and Subcultural Style", Massachusetts Institute of Technology, April 29, 2007 Thus, the phrase "Han shot first" is a retort to director George Lucas' explicit cinematic assertion that "Greedo shot first." Controversy and further changes The alteration of the scene was disagreeable to a number of longtime and adult fans of the series, provoking some to create an online petition demanding that the changes be retracted. The primary objection to the revision is that it alters Han's initially morally ambiguous character, making his later transition from anti-hero to hero less meaningful.Sagers, Aaron, "An unbelievable day in the life of Jack Bauer", The Morning Call, February 15, 2006 Since the 1997 Special Editions, there have been two DVD releases. In the 2004 DVD release, the disputed scene was altered again. In this version, Greedo still shoots before Han does and still misses at close range, but the timing is altered so the shots are fired at nearly the same time and to depict Han "dodging" the shot (digital manipulation is used to "lean" the character to one side). The 2006 DVD had two versions—the 2004 changes and the original theatrical version. The theatrical version features no changes, including Han shooting first. When announcing the dual-version DVDs, Lucasfilm noted that the scene was included by saying: "...and yes, viewers see Han Solo shoot first." For the 2011 Blu-ray release, the shot of Han and Greedo firing at each other from the 2004 DVD has been tightened up by several frames. In a 2012 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lucas altered his previous statements by announcing that Greedo had always shot first, stating that a combination of bad close-up shots and the audiences' inaccurate perception of the Han Solo character was what actually caused all the confusion. Lucas stated "The controversy over who shot first, Greedo or Han Solo, in Episode IV, what I did was try to clean up the confusion, but obviously it upset people because they wanted Solo to be a cold-blooded killer, but he actually isn’t. It had been done in all close-ups and it was confusing about who did what to whom. I put a little wider shot in there that made it clear that Greedo is the one who shot first, but everyone wanted to think that Han shot first, because they wanted to think that he actually just gunned him down." See also *List of changes in Star Wars re-releases References Category:Star Wars